THE refiling of amendments to Republic Act
9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004 at the Senate has
encountered a hitch. This after the Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) denied the conduct of such a hearing at the Fort Bonifacio
detention cell of Senator Antonio Trillanes.
Trillanes is charged with rebellion for his participation
in the failed 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
The Senate Civil Service Committee, which Trillanes chairs,
was to have conducted hearings on the proposed amendment last
Friday. The AFP, however, denied entry of all participants,
including Civil Service Commission (CSC) chief Karina David,
into Trillanes’ detention cell.
The CSC is part of discussions on the proposed amendments
specifically Sections 27 and 29 of RA 9280, which prohibit
corporations from clearing at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The logistics community – led by the Philippine International
Seafreight Forwarders Association, Aircargo Forwarders of
the Philippines, Inc. and the Port Users Confederation —
is lobbying to change the law to allow otherwise.
As of presstime, it was not clear whether the AFP will, in
the future, allow Trillanes to conduct hearings on the 20
pending bills before his committee. His lawyers said they
will petition to allow such.
Despite the setback, the logistics community remains optimistic
that the amendments will pass this time. A lack of quorum
prevented the passage of amendments in the last Congress.
The logistics community is having better luck at the Lower
House. As early as July, the House of Representatives has
conducted hearings involving at least three bills, House Bills
1733, 762 and 417, to amend Sections 27 and 29 of RA 9280.
The three bills focus on allowing brokerage houses and freight
forwarders to secure accreditation and clear with the BOC
as long as they hire at least one customs broker.
JAPANESE carrier “K” Line is
increasing its fleet by 67% in the next four years to accommodate
increasing demand and provide more business for its ship management
business.
Part of the plan is to deploy more vessels calling in Philippine
ports from 10 to 24 by 2010, said “K” Line Ship
Management Co. Ltd. executive vice president Satoru Kuboshima
at the sidelines of the carrier’s ship management seminar
last week.
Kuboshima said “K” Line will add 280 brand new
vessels on top of its present fleet of 420 for deployment
in major trading routes.
He said the fleet expansion would also be good for the Philippine
manning industry, which supplies most of the world’s
seafarers.
“About 3,200 Filipino seafarers will also be employed
to operate the vessels, about 1,600 officers and another 1,600
ratings. These totals comprise almost half of the estimated
7,000 seafarers to be employed for the additional ships,”
Kuboshima added.
The carrier recently invested $11 million into a local training
center to provide Filipino seamen as well as those from other
countries access to quality maritime education and training.
TOTAL Philippine imports for the first seven
months of the year increased 4.1% to $30.355 billion from
$29.160 billion, according to the National Statistics Office
(NSO).
Exports grew at a faster pace of 6.3% to $28.725 billion from
$27.029 billion during the same period compared to last year.
For July alone, imports rose 14.3% to $5.042 billion from
$4.412 billion in July 2006 while exports grew 4.3% to $4.188
billion from last year’s $4.016 billion. This brought
total merchandise trade for July 2007 to $9.230 billion from
$8.429 billion, up 9.5% and the highest growth recorded during
2007, according to the NSO.
Import receipts from electronic products hit $2.152 billion,
up 12.8% from $1.907 billion of July 2006. They made up for
42.7% of the aggregate import bill.
Representing 20.4% of the total import bill and second most
imported commodities for July 2007 were mineral fuels, lubricants
and related materials. Imports for these items reached $1.030
billion over the previous year’s $713.7.69 million,
or a 44.3% growth.
Industrial machinery and equipment were the third top import
for July 2007, reaching $190.13 million from last year’s
$189.60 million, up 0.3%.
The US remained the lead source of Philippine imports, eating
up 12.5% of the total import bill. US imports grew to $631.03
million from $700.09 million in July 2006, or a 9.9% drop.
Exports to the US, on the other hand, hit $767.95 million,
yielding a two-way trade value of $1.399 billion and a trade
surplus for the Philippines at $136.93 million, according
to the NSO.
Rounding up the top five import sources for July were Japan
($567.56 million from $582.89 million in July 2006), Saudi
Arabia ($561.98 million from $133.94 million), Singapore ($530.80
million), and China ($383.93 million).
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) will establish
an oil inventory system to monitor movement of oil in smuggling
hotspots Subic, Batangas and Manila, a Customs official said.
The system will help the BOC determine if taxes have been
paid and which fuel products are illegally imported.
“We are finalizing the computerized petroleum inventory
management system that will track inventory of petroleum going
in and out of ports,” said Customs deputy commissioner
Alexander Arevalo.
Arevalo’s department is leading the activity, which
forms part of Information and Communications Technology projects
being undertaken by the BOC to facilitate trade and reduce
the incidence of smuggling.
Arevalo said the system will further enhance the BOC’s
revenue-generation measures.
The BOC is presently looking at the inventory of PTT Philippines
Corp., Shell, Triglobal and Chevron.
TANKER operators and oil companies are holding
off any action against Republic Act 9483 or the Oil Pollution
Compensation Act until its implementing guidelines are released
by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
In a forum during last week’s Maritime Week celebration,
the Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport Association (Philpesta)
said, “It’s premature if we make our move now.
We will make the necessary moves, including a court action,
once the guidelines are released.”
RA 9483 seeks to implement the 1992 Civil Liability Convention
and the 1992 International Oil Pollution Fund (IOPF) Convention.
The law requires tanker operators to contribute P0.10 of freight
to the oil pollution fund for every liter it delivers. It
also obligates oil firms to contribute to the IOPF each time
150,000 tons of oil is delivered to them.
The tanker operators and oil firms are against the law which
they describe as poorly crafted. They said it would ultimately
increase oil prices, and affect all commodity prices.
Marina will soon forward the RA 9483 implementing rules to
the office of Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza for review.
ICTSI lands in Forbes list of Best Companies Under a Billion
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services,
Inc. (ICTSI) has been named by Forbes Asia magazine as among
Asia Pacific’s top 200 companies in its 2007 Best Under
a Billion list. It is the only Philippine company to be included
in the list.
The recent accolade is the fourth for ICTSI from Forbes. The
company was included in Forbes’ Best Small Companies
in 1997 and 1998, and the magazine’s Best Under a Billion
list in 2003.
Forbes Asia’s annual Best Under a Billion tally is drawn
from over 22,500 publicly listed outfits in Asia and the Pacific
with sales of under $1 billion. The companies are screened
for consistent profitability and growth over three years.
Subsidiaries and state-controlled enterprise are excluded
from the list.
Forbes said that while 80% of the companies included in the
current list are making their first appearance, the returning
outfits show that clear vision and strong management can adapt
and persevere in a region of constant change.
The Forbes Best Under a Billion is the third citation for
ICTSI this year.
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has revised upward
its collection target for the last three months of the year
to make up for the P11-billion deficit it incurred in the
first six months of the year.
The new respective targets for October to December are P23.202
billion from P21.702 billion, P23.264 billion from P20.305
billion, and P21.306 billion from P21.213 billion.
BOC said hitting its target for the year has became more doable
after the Development Budget Coordination Committee cut the
bureau’s target by P5 billion to P223 billion due to
the stronger peso and lower import volumes.
The BOC said every one peso appreciation translates to revenue
losses of P2.2 billion for the bureau.
“If we get the adjusted target from September to December,
we will have no problems meeting the official target. But
based on my recent meeting with the President, I have assured
her that we will still try our best to get the original target
of P228 billion as the internal goal of the bureau,”
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said.
As of last week, the BOC was still P2 billion short of its
adjusted target for September. Morales is confident though
of hitting the goal as some oil firms are expected to settle
their bill by month’s end. “Based on the trend
of previous years, the economy is at its best in the run-up
to Christmas. Businesses are alive and it is natural for businesses
to stock up on their merchandise to accommodate the uptrend
in spending,” he said.
THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina)
is demanding immediate payment of annual supervision fees
(ASF) owed to it by debt-saddled shipping firm Negros Navigation
(Nenaco).
The fees, unpaid since 1998, are not considered debts but
taxes and are thus not covered by court protection under a
rehabilitation plan obtained by the shipping line 2004, the
agency said.
Nenaco, which now owes Marina P39.165 million in ASF, offered
to settle the principal of P25.969 million but this was rejected
by Marina.
“You can’t restructure taxes,” Marina administrator
Vicente Suazo, Jr., said in an interview.
Nenaco owes creditors and suppliers more than P2.4 billion,
more than P440 million of which represent unpaid taxes.
Since 2004, Marina has been scrutinizing the books of all
domestic shipping lines to ensure they are financially capable
of maintaining their operations.
